If Prague were an animal I think it would be a platypus. It’s just a little bit of everything stitched together into something that’s more interesting than any of its parts. I guess it’s a synergism.

Anyway, we had lots of fun there. Here’s a panorama from the top of St. Vitus Cathedral. It was a long, long climb up 287 steps:

We had to stop and rest several times. That was a little difficult since there is a line of souls ascending and descending at the same time (a philosophical conundrum) elbow to elbow. When we came to a window, we could just squeeze back against the sill and stand there panting for a few minutes.

Prague also has it’s share of scary escalators. This one is worse than the one in Budapest:

I’ve been a pilot, climbed mountains, jumped out of airplanes and other stupid things to numerous to mention, but I can’t remember having knees as wobbly as mine were when I stepped onto the top of that one.

Here’s another scene using what’s called the Tilt-shift Miniature technique:

It’s supposed to look like a photograph of a miniature scale model. Click on it to enlarge so that you can see the effect more clearly.

Now, to the subject of the post. I’d never been any place where the Cow Parade people have done their thing. Let me tell you, it’s a remarkable phenomenon. There were cows all over the place. They are all made the same size, but they are decorated in incredibly imaginative ways. It was fun to go cow spotting:

If you want to know what the cows are about, check the link above.

I think that this one was Eunie’s favourite. I never realised that she was a gold-digger. Man, did she marry the wrong guy!

If you are still craving cow, check out this one on THETHEORY’s Flickr photostream.

There seems to be a church or cathedral on every block. I love this giant bronze rooster on top of this one:

And, here’s some yummy stained glass:

Another shot from the top of a cathedral shows the incredible complexity of the flying buttress construction:

I’d go back to Prague at the drop of a hat. Of course, I could say that about a lot of other places. The food is splendid at modestly priced restaurants. There is an acute glut of culture. It has a nice, quirky ambience that delivers a little surprise around every corner.